Best Of The BBC Recordings, The - Sandy Denny

Advantages: A step back in time.
Disadvantages: Not known enough today.

...the words have significant wealth. "I'll lock the door the throw away the key. If you'll stay a while with me........." Wonderful guitar backing, and a melody that stays in your mind, and is still every bit as enjoyable now as then. The final track on this album is the one that somehow sticks out as being the perfect finish to an album that was a one off, never to be improved upon, never to be followed up by the same artists again, each of them keen in making this, their debut record, and each spontaneous in their performance, giving an ambiance of how people got absorbed by good music. "And You need Me" is a subdued song, accompanied by guitar, and to me epitomises Sandy Denny at her very best. On the 21st April 1978, Sandy Denny died, at the age of 31 years, of a cerebral haemorrhage, though what she left was part of British Folk... Read review

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Advantages: The voice of an Angel ; Title track being one of the best folk rock songs
Disadvantages: Some weak tracks ; Not on the same par as Fairport Convention or Fotheringay

...lived, she produced some very fine material and the three albums she did with them including 'Unhalfbricking' and of course 'Liege and Leif' were phenomenal. Before the release of Liege and Leif she left to form her own band 'Fotheringay'. After one album Sandy Denny decided to embark on a bold voyage of discovery as a solo artist. 'North star grassman and the ravens' was astonishingly superb as a debut performance as far as Sandy's voice input was concerned. Although she went on to produce a fine backlog of solo albums I feel as if she worked much better within the confound of The Fairport Convention, who had a number of fine talents to co-work with Sandy's. North star grassman and the ravens was a stunning accomplishment what with her stunning, angelic alto voice. The title track remains the best out of the bunch for me although a couple... Read review

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Advantages: The first and probably the best folk rock album
Disadvantages: The line-up never recorded together again

...Fairport Convention’s groundbreaking 1970 album “Liege and Lief” is not just a seminal album it can be argued to have launched the whole concept of folk-rock. It is above all still a hugely enjoyable and relevant work which as a listener I return to time and time again. The reason is simple, it is the work of highly skilled musicians at the height of their careers. The band had started as a West Coast and Dylan admiring band who put out a first eponymous record with singer Judy Dyble, mildly interesting without setting anything alight. The second album “What We Did On Our Holidays” was rather more interesting. Having been joined by Sandy Denny, surely one of the best singers the pop/rock scene ever spawned, an inspired songwriter and boasting one of the most “English” voices imaginable. Richard Thompson, still a highly... Read review

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